Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate generally to wireless communications systems, and more particularly, to methods for determining a maximum segment size (MSS) in a communications system.
Description of the Related Art
Third generation (3G) and fourth generation (4G) wireless networks, as specified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), include wireless access networks in which different application services (e.g., data services, voice over IP (VoIP) content, video content, etc.). Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) defines size limits of packets transmitted over a network. The maximum transmission unit (MTU) defines the maximum size of a packet that can be transmitted. The TCP maximum segment size (MSS) defines the maximum number of data bytes in a packet.
Typically, user terminals at the end terminals do not know the MTU size and the MSS value that a network or a network segment in the TCP path can accommodate, and, therefore, the user terminal operating the system selects a predetermined value as the MTU size. However, the predetermined value may prevent the packet from passing through the wireless access network. When a packet is too large (e.g., the packet exceeds the MTU size and/or MSS value), network devices may discard the packet because the packet exceeds the predetermined value.
Therefore, there is a need for a method for determining a maximum segment size (MSS) to solve the problem of discarding the packet because the packet exceeds the MTU size and/or MSS value.